Vampire Files series
The Vampire Files series by P.N. Elrod. Genres and Sub-Genres Urban Fantasy / Noir Urban Fantasy / Mystery UF / Vampire Fiction / Vampire P.I. Series Description or Overview ✥ The Vampire Files is a series of books by P.N. Elrod. It is the memoirs of one Jack Fleming, vampire, private investigator and later club owner, set in 1930's Chicago, starting in 1936. The core cast consists of Jack Fleming, former reporter and current undead, Charles Escott, a British private agent and former theatrical actor, and Bobbi Smythe, Jack's girlfriend and former night club singer. ~ The Vampire Files (Literature) - TV Tropes ✥ Jack Fleming, ace reporter, always had a weak spot for strange ladies. And he certainly should have listened to the one who said she was a vampire! Because when a thug blasts several bullets through Jack's back, he does not die—and discovers that he is a vampire as well! First in an exciting new vampire adventure series. Original Lead's Species * Vampire, Vampire PI Primary Supe * Vampires What Sets it Apart * This series was one of the first, if not the first to feature a vampire in the lead as a detective. Narrative Type and Narrators * First Person narrative told by Jack Fleming. Books in Series Vampire Files series: # Bloodlist (1990) # Lifeblood (1990) # Bloodcircle (1990) # Art in the Blood (1991) # Fire in the Blood (1991) # Blood on the Water (1992) # A Chill in the Blood (1998) # The Dark Sleep (1999) # Lady Crymsyn (2000) # Cold Streets (2003) # A Song in the Dark (2005) # Dark Road Rising (2009) ~ ranked #83 on Goodreads | Best Urban Fantasy SERIES (181 books) Shorts, Anthologies and Guides * "Dark Lady", in Dark and Stormy Knights * "Grave-Robbed", in Many Bloody Returns * "Vampires Prefer Blondes", in Chicks Kick Butt *Online stories: READING ROOM Companion Series, Spinoffs, Sequels or Prequels Co-writing with Nigel Bennett: * Keeper of the King (with Nigel Bennett) (1997, ISBN 0-671-87759-3) * His Father's Son (with Nigel Bennett) (2001, ISBN 0-671-31981-7) * Siege Perilous (with Nigel Bennett) (2004, ISBN 0-7434-8854-7) World Building Primary Setting 1930's Chicago, starting in 1936 Places: * New York * Hollywood * Bronze Belt * Hudson Supernatural Elements Vampires, vampire-hunters, ghosts, cursed diamond, Mobsters, Glossary: * Vampires: super strong, super fast, have super senses, can turn invisible, have eternal youth, and can bend puny mortals' minds to your will—adn have the usual limitations. World ✥ In this world, Vampires are super strong, super fast, have super senses, can turn invisible, have eternal youth, and can bend puny mortals' minds to your will, but you have to lie utterly helpless on a pile of dirt during the day, you can't use mirrors (an obvious sign of what you are, plus it makes shaving and clothes shopping really hard), even a tiny bit of sunlight can make you blind, just smelling food makes you nauseous (which makes socializing over food awkward and a pain), when you're invisible you're also blind, if anyone knew you from when you were alive you have to explain why you look so young, and you can accidentally drive someone insane. Jack himself angsts briefly on most of these issues (particularly the accidental Mind Rape), but is generally happy with his existence. For the most part, he finds the detriments annoying, not depressing. ~ The Vampire Files (Literature) - TV Tropes ✥ Jack has a lot of the same kind of vampiric conditions that Bram Stoker first invented with Dracula. These conditions include needing to rest in the earth of his home, casting no reflection, being able to turn into mist and issues with crossing open or running water. Jack doesn’t have all of Dracula’s vampiric limitations though; he doesn’t need to ask to cross a threshold (which is a good thing because as an investigator he crosses a lot of thresholds uninvited to look for clues) and he doesn’t have any problems with garlic, dismissing it as an Eastern European myth. “What good is something that smells bad against someone who doesn’t have to breathe?” he asks pragmatically. ~ I Love Vampires Protagonist ✥ Jack Flemming: JACK FLEMING, a former newspaper reporter, now working as assistant to private detective Charles Escott in 1930's Chicago, Jack is the hero of a very popular series by P. N. Elrod. But what Jack really wants to be is a novelist. And oh yeah, he's a vampire. Fortunately, he's a good guy vampire. He was originally killed, shot down in a hail of bullets, courtesy of the mob, in the first novel, but was rescued by a lovely female vampire. rounding out the ast are jack's long-suffering, and wvery understanding girlfriend, nightclub singer Bobbi Smythe. ~ Jack Fleming ✥ At the start of the novel, Jack wakes up dead and whilst he can’t remember how he came to be dead he isn’t surprised to find himself a vampire. He exchanged blood with his long-lost vampire lover Maureen several years ago and she told him what he would need to do to survive as a vampire in the event that he died. So Bloodlist isn’t about unexpectedly becoming a vampire and having to cope with being undead nor is it about vampire angst because Jack has a practical outlook on life (or death in this case) and just views it as another change in life. This practical outlook about his newly dead state doesn’t extend to shrugging off his murder and the novel concentrates on his efforts to find his murderer and find out what he knew that was so dangerous that he was murdered because of it. In life Jack was a good investigative reporter so it doesn’t take him long to find a trail and follow it. Along the way he makes the acquaintance of an eccentric British private investigator, Charles Escott, who proves to be a good sidekick for Jack, helping him investigate his murder. ~ I Love Vampires Book Cover Summaries ✤ BOOK ONE - Bloodlist (1990): Jack Fleming's thirst for beautiful women turns him into one of the undead and this vampire-newsman spends the rest of his days hunting down the person who tried to kill him. Bloodlist (Vampire Files, book 1) ~ FF / Jack Fleming, ace reporter, always had a weak spot for strange ladies. And he certainly should have listened to the one who said she was a vampire! Because when a thug blasts several bullets through Jack's back, he does not die--and discovers that he is a vampire as well! First in an exciting new vampire adventure series. Original. ~ Bloodlist 1 ~ Shelfari and Goodreads | Bloodlist (Vampire Files, #1) ✤ BOOK TWO - Lifeblood (1990): Jack Fleming was an investigative journalist in Prohibition-era Chicago until he got shot by an unknown assassin, bitten by his vampire girlfriend, and became one of the undead. Now, this nice-guy nosferatu has a bunch of crazy vampire hunters on his trail armed with crosses, silver bullets, and sharp wooden stakes. He doesn't know how they found out about him or why they are "out for his blood," but it's not a problem for this street-wise gumshoe, until someone starts shooting. Jack himself may be bulletproof, but his friends are not. And Jack is determined to get some answers, even if it kills him-again. It's a case of the living versus the undead. But who's hunting whom? ~ Goodreads | Lifeblood #2 / As nosferatu go, Jack Fleming, journalist-turned-vampire, is basically a nice guy. Besides the desire for blood every now and then, he doesn't mean to hurt anyone. Now he's got a bunch of vampire-hunters after him, and Jack wants to know why. ~ Lifeblood 2 ~ Shelfari ✤ BOOK THREE - Bloodcircle (1990): WHEN THE SUN GOES DOWN, MY DAY BEGINS... As a vampire, I have a number of handy skills - I can hypnotize mortals, walk through walls, and shrug off bullets like insults. The one thing I haven't been able to manage, so far, is to find the woman who made me what I am. Until now. Maybe. Her trail has led me to the palatial estate of a wealthy widow - and a two-hundred-year-old gigolo with a taste for young blood. He claims not to know where my long-lost lady is - or who is trying to kill me - but then again, you can never trust a vampire. I should know. ~ Goodreads | Bloodcircle #3 ✤ BOOK FOUR - Art in the Blood (1991): I'm a vampire, not an artist, but I know what I like. And I don't like murder: So when the career of a talented young artist is fatally cut short, I know I won't sleep easy in my coffin until I find the killer: But the world of high art--with its big money, bigger egos, and expensive forgeries--makes even bloodsucking seem simple. And safer. Dead artists can live forever: An undead detective may not be so lucky.. ~ Goodreads | Art in the Blood #4 ✤ BOOK FIVE - Fire in the Blood (1991): When vampire detective Jack Fleming is hired by the wealthy Sebastian Pierce to recover a priceless heirloom bracelet, he eyes his reward in Pierce's daughter, an enticing girl with a hot-headed boyfriend. ~ Goodreads | Fire in the Blood #5 ✤ BOOK SIX - Blood on the Water (1992): As a journalist in Capone-controlled Chicago, Jack Fleming is used to blood--even though it's from a vampire's perspective. When the new mob boss decides to rid the city of its friendly vampire, Fleming's thirst for the red stuff gets in the way of his safety. ~ Goodreads | Blood on the Water #6 ✤ BOOK SEVEN - A Chill in the Blood (1998): A delicious new novel of the The Vampire Files -- in which our undead detective finds himself caught in the middle of a Chicago gangland war! ~ Goodreads | A Chill in the Blood #7 ✤ BOOK EIGHT - The Dark Sleep (1999): Death hasn't ended Jack Fleming's problems. His girlfriend Bobbi has caught the attention of a famous radio star, who promises to open doors for the lovely singer -- including the one to his bedroom. His current case -- retrieving incriminating letters from the ex-lover of a rich, foolish young socialite, looks simple until bullets start flying. Now Jack's mortal partner is in the hospital. Who's behind the gun? The ex-lover? The radio star's goons? An old enemy? Jack has to find out the truth -- before the lives of those he loves are put at risk.. ~ Goodreads | The Dark Sleep #8) ✤ BOOK NINE ''' - '''The Dark Sleep (1999): ampire detective Jack Fleming made a good bit of money cleaning up the streets of post-prohibition Chicago--enough to realize his dream of owning a nightclub. During renovations, workmen discover the remains of a woman, clad in a distinctive red dress. Vampire or not, Jack won't rest until he finds out who killed the lady in red--even if it means resurrecting secrets the mob would kill to keep buried. ~ Goodreads | Lady Crymsyn #9) ✤ BOOK TEN - Cold Streets (2003): Vampire detective Jack Fleming's latest venture-the Lady Crymsyn nightclub-has become the favorite haunt for Chicago's elite. But amongst his patrons lurk a smarmy blackmailer and a dangerous up-and-coming mobster from New York-both unaware how deadly Jack can be when blood is spilled... ~ Goodreads | Cold Streets #10) ✤ BOOK ELEVEN - Cold Streets (2003): P. N. Elrod's novels of The Vampire Files blend the seductive shadows of classic noir into a sanctuary for a most unusual private investigator-vampire Jack Fleming. In Elrod's newest novel, Jack is under the gun when the New York mafia wants his hide, and the love of his life is wanted for murder. ~ Goodreads | Song in the Dark #11 ✤ BOOK TWELVE - Dark Road Rising (2009): Vampire P.I. Jack Fleming is playing babysitter to Gabriel “Whitey” Kroun, a dangerously unstable mobster—and newly-created vampire—with deadly secrets to hide. As Jack tries to unravel the mystery surrounding Kroun’s undead state, he gets caught between his charge’s violent outbursts and some syndicate torpedoes looking to rub them both out, leaving him vulnerable to an even deadlier threat— the return of an old enemy desperate to unlock the secrets of Jack’s vampire immortality. ~ Goodreads | Dark Road Rising #12 Category:Series